History at Kyle Field on Gators' Side Ahead of Texas A&M Bout

Following an impressive upset victory over the Texas Longhorns, the Florida Gators now turn their attention towards another team from the Lone Star State for Week 7, the Texas A&M Aggies.

"You don't have much time to think about (the upset victory over Texas) or enjoy it, because you got to turn around and play an outstanding Texas A&M team," head coach Billy Napier said on Monday. "It's going to be a great challenge. We're going to need to be at our best."

The Aggies have generated considerable hype around their program, as evidenced by their No. 5 ranking in the AP Top 25, and are the favorite in College Station on Saturday.

However, after looking at the shared history between the Gators and Aggies, a win is not as much of an afterthought as one might think.

Texas A&M only joined the SEC in 2012, leaving little time for the sample size to expand. Since that time, the Gators are 2-3 against the Aggies. Outside of this period, the two only played twice, splitting the spoils one apiece.

Ironically, Florida has had its best success against the Aggies in College Station with both wins at Kyle Field.

The most recent occasion happened in 2022, which marked Napier's first road win with the program.

The first half was a tightly contested battle. Both teams shared early blows in the opening quarter, highlighted by former Gators quarterback Anthony Richardson's 60-yard rushing touchdown that put his team in front 17-14. But by the end of the half, Florida trailed the hosts 24-20.

Florida Gators wide receiver Caleb Douglas caught a touchdown in the team's last game at Texas A&M. | Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images

It was all Florida in the second half, though. They scored 21 unanswered points against Texas A&M to leave College Station with a 41-24 win. The Gators' defense forced five punts, two fumbles and a turnover on downs in the second half to help facilitate this turnaround.

"We played well that day; Anthony in particular, played well," Napier recalled on Wednesday. "And I do think we got some stops that day. We found a way to win the game and really had control of it late."

Florida's only other win on the road against Texas A&M came in the Aggies' debut season in the conference. In 2012, the Gators took down a Johnny Manziel-led Texas A&M, 20-17.

They did their best to contain Manziel that day, keeping him to 173 passing yards and 60 rushing yards in his first career start. Manziel, of course, went on the win the Heisman Trophy that season.

One of the NFL's best wide receivers, Mike Evans, played in this game as well, finishing with seven receptions for 60 yards.

Florida Gators running back Mike Gillislee scored two touchdowns in the first matchup against Texas A&M as SEC foes. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

For the Gators, running back Mike Gillislee spearheaded the offense, rushing for 83 yards and two touchdowns. Helping Gillislee out on offense was quarterback Jeff Driskel, who was 13-for-16 on passes and accounted for 162 yards through the air.

Florida enters this year's game at Kyle Field, though, with their backs still against the wall with a 2-3 record and in desperate need of a win, something Napier has struggled to do when away from the Swamp.

Still, the Gators enter Saturday's game motivated to accomplish another upset in back-to-back weeks.

"In general, this is like answering prayers to some degree, you know, getting to play these type of games," Napier said Wednesday. "So it's exciting, and I think you come to the University of Florida to be challenged to play against the best, and certainly we'll get that chance Saturday night."

Kickoff between the Gators and the Aggies is set for 7 p.m. on Saturday and will be televised on ESPN.

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